Consultant: Firm for Survey work at International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Scope of Work:

Researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego (hereafter, the principal investigators, or PIs) are conducting a study (a participatory action research agenda) to improve women’s empowerment beyond the household—including in governance at different levels. Specifically, we propose to test whether a training intervention designed to strengthen women’s sense of collective efficacy and leadership skills will improve their voice and agency in local political engagement via a randomized control trial (RCT) to be implemented in likely 3 southwestern states of Nigeria in 2022 (prospectively, Ogun, Oyo, and possibly a third state – though this is subject to change based on the PIs’ assessment of the appropriate sample as informed by preliminary work with partners). In both treatment and control communities, we will recruit women to join women’s action committees (WACs) to be trained by ActionAid Nigeria: (1) 1/3 of WACs (placebo group) will receive basic information on the political process and points of potential influence (one meeting); (2) 1/3 (treatment group 1) will receive the same political information as the placebo group in the first meeting, and receive 3-4 additional intensive trainings in leadership, organizing, civic education, and advocacy, intended to increase women’s sense of group-based injustice, group identity, and collective efficacy (CE), and improve their articulation of demands to policymakers and policymakers’ responsiveness to them; and (3) 1/3 (treatment group 2) will receive the same treatment as treatment group 1 in addition to having their husband invited to participate in a separate, men’s training on the importance of women’s political participation, and tangible ways to support women’s political participation, voice, and agency.

This requisition is for a firm specialized in participatory action research and training delivery and will cover all activities during September – December 2022 associated with preparing for the rollout (during Q1-Q2 of 2023) of the research study described above. The firm has the following responsibilities:

• Community entry mapping: Take the universe of wards in likely 3 Southwestern states in Nigeria and determine which are feasible to enter (i.e., no security or accessibility concerns, and they have not been the site of similar past programming efforts that would make such programming less useful or novel); provide a list of at least 550 feasible wards for a randomized selection of 450 of them by the PIs (the PIs will also identify a random priority ordering of replacement wards, should issues emerge that prevent the firm from entering one or more of the 450 the PIs select). The selection exercise should involve a site selection survey to establish the existing realities in the communities and ensure permissions to operate there can be secured.
• Development of training curriculum: The firm will develop a women’s training curriculum focusing on at least five different skills areas that include: Civic education, Human rights-based approaches, Gender and women’s rights, Political participation, and Leadership and influence. The firm will also develop a men’s training curriculum focusing on at least five different skills areas that include: How the world is changing and how women’s empowerment is beneficial, Different domains of women’s empowerment – from the home, to the community, to the political system, Importance and benefits of women’s voice and agency in public spaces, How to support women’s voice and agency in public spaces, and The value of male champions. For each of these, the curriculum should be enough to fill four days, with a minimum of 4 hours a day to cover all material. Design of this curriculum should build on the firm’s existing knowledge of effective training curriculum in this space, as well as their knowledge of the local context in these particular wards in Nigeria, but should additionally incorporate needed lessons that the PIs want to ensure form part of the curriculum, in order to affect key outcomes of interest to the PIs. It should also be developed collaboratively with the PIs, with an initial discussion before any curriculum design takes place in which existing materials are shared and exact parameters of the design are agreed upon, followed by an additional meeting with the PIs when the first drafts of the curriculum are ready for feedback. The PIs’ feedback should then be incorporated fully in finalizing the curriculum.
• Piloting of women’s and men’s training curricula and preparation of pilot data analysis report: While adapted from existing curriculum, the implemented curriculum will not be identical to past curriculum given the specific criteria by which this training has to abide. As such, the curriculum will be newly-designed, and a set of experienced staff (all of those who would be trainers of trainers when deploying the curriculum in the future) should deliver the full curriculum to at least 3 groups of 13 wives and three groups of 13 husbands and prepare a report documenting on how to revise the curriculum:
• Where the training was done, who attended, for how long, etc
• What aspects did women like the most? What aspects did men like the most? And what aspects did each gender like the least? (To be ascertained by providing them with a post-training questionnaire)
• What do women (men) want to hear more about (e.g., more detail on a topic that was raised, or inclusion of an additional topic)
• How actionable did women (men) feel the recommendations are? What ways do they state they plan to change the way they behave in order to act on the curriculum?
• What were specific recommendations for improvement from women? From men?
• What changes to the curriculum does the firm plan to make and precisely how in response to the piloting?
• Are any aspects of the intervention or training likely to lead to backlash against the women participants/
• Finalizing curriculum based upon the pilot: The curriculum should be updated based upon the pilot in consultation with the PIs on how best to incorporate the received feedback and recommendations.
• Scoping exercise and report on recommended parameters for selecting women: The firm will lead development of a sampling frame of married couples in which adult wives are age 18-35 and economically active outside the home (e.g., self-employed or working for someone else outside home). The firm will guide the PIs on any other recommended participant selection criteria to help ensure the trainings target the population in which the trainings will be most impactful.
• Contact with leaders and relationship building: In collaboration with the PIs, the firm will communicate with relevant government agencies to seek approval for trainings delivery. Also, the firm will help us co-identify one political leader in each ward who can serve as the focal point for questions about interactions with policymakers and can help oversee a subsequent grants competition and participate in an elite survey.
• Future funding: The firm will work with the PIs on grants applications to secure funding for follow-up surveys.

Required Qualifications:

• Excellent knowledge of women’s empowerment programming in Nigeria, and women’s civil society organizations’ operations and roles
• Facility with any required local languages as well as English
• Specialization in designing trainings for both women and men, including on topics relates to political participation, voice, and agency beyond the home
• Professional demeanor in all practice and particularly in oral and written communication
• Experience documenting lessons from a pilot to improve curriculum
• Ability to approach people in a friendly, compelling, and engaging way
• Experience securing government support for and local IRB approval of household surveys in Nigeria
• Time-conscious, able to respect deadlines
• Good communication skills